The invention relates generally to traveling water screens for filtering debris and fish from a stream of water and, more particularly, to an open-area modular belt suitable for operation as a traveling water screen.
Many industrial processes use water from rivers, lakes, and oceans. Water taken into an industrial plant must be filtered to prevent debris from fouling equipment and causing damage. Water screens filter out and remove debris from an influent stream before the debris can enter the plant.
Modular plastic conveyor belts, originally designed for conveying articles, have begun to be used as traveling water screens. The INTRALOX® Series 1800 MeshTop belt, manufactured and sold by Intralox, L.L.C. of Harahan, La., U.S.A., is designed to be used as a traveling water screen. The belt is a heavy-duty belt with a lot of narrow slits through it to allow water, but not debris, to flow through. The narrow slits make the belt particularly useful as a fish screen blocking small fish from dangerous turbine blades or other potentially lethal equipment or conditions. Despite the many slits, the open-area of the belt, i.e., the surface area of the belt taken up by the slits, is just 32%. In slowly moving streams, this belt works well. In fast-moving streams, such as upstream of a suction-operated cooling water intake, however, the belt may block the flow too much.
Thus, there is a need for a modular belt capable of being used as a water screen in high-flow applications.